FINAL POST FROM THE YUKON (I THINK)

 POST # 428

 

 In anticipation of the arrival home of my friends, the three boneheads wait patiently.  The truth is that they are just waiting for a treat from the house/pet sitter.  And of course, they will get their treat, because how could I say no to those eyes staring back at me?

And so it is, that yet another house/pet sit is coming to and end.  As is always the case, I do get rather attached to the critters that I am caring for, and Oz, Dash, and Maizie are no exception.  As soon as John and Kim arrive home, I'm sure that these three will forget that I was ever here.  I won't soon forget them. They have been a real treat to look after.

It wasn't that long ago, that I thought I would never have an opportunity to return to the Yukon, and I will be forever grateful to John and Kim for allowing me this chance to come up North. 

It has been wonderful to be here as the season changed, and the water turned to ice as the temperature dipped to minus 20C.  However, today it has warmed right up, and there was a snowfall warning in effect (October 26th).  It snowed all morning and well into the afternoon.  I'm glad that I had the chance to experience one good snowfall prior to my departure.

 

 Here is a closer look at one of the steps, with the yardstick to measure that amount.

And here are three other photos that I like. The round piece of ice got caught up in that little eddy in the river, and it has been there for three days at this point, spinning around and around.

 

Magical ice crystals.

Leaving the property and heading back to Dawson.

So there we go.  My final post from the Yukon.  At least I think it is.  Mind you, I have had such a wonderful time here, I do wonder if it is truly my last visit?   By the time my next blog post is due on November 7th, I expect to be back in Vancouver, at least for a while.  I have zero house sits pending for the remainder of 2020, and I suppose that could be a bad thing,  however I don't see it that way.  I guess I can just look at it as an open ended holiday, and I really can't complain about that.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

 

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

 POST # 427

 

THE BIG HOUSE (MAIN CABIN)

Small is beautiful, is the title of a book by E.F. Schumacher.  I read it probably about fifteen years ago and it came to mind during this past week.  Why?  Because some of the night time low temperatures crossed over the minus 20 degree C mark, and now that I am living in the main cabin, there is a lot more space that gets to cool off each night.  In the smaller cabin, it was still warm when I crawled out of bed.  So, small is beautiful, as far as cabin size is concerned on these chilly Yukon mornings.  The wood stove is hungrier, and my morning "meditation" at the outhouse is much more stimulating than it was during the warmer temperatures.

The lack of cloud cover that allows the temperature to drop, provides a couple of benefits to help compensate for the colder temperatures.  First, for a star gazer like me, it provides an absolutely magnificent view of the night sky.  At this latitude, Polaris (North Star) is very high above the horizon, and in addition, because I am far away from any artificial light sources, it's easy to actually see the Milky Way galaxy of which our solar system and planet are just a very small part.  The second advantage to the lack of clouds, is that the days are clear and sunny, in spite of the cold.  One comes to appreciate that big ball in the sky to a greater extent here in the Yukon, than back down south.

The creek directly out front of my cabin is now frozen solid, and the Klondike river is well on its way to getting there.  Each day I take a walk to the Klondike with the boneheads in order to survey the change in the river.  My friends are planning to return on October 26th, however their arrival may be dictated by the condition of the river.  It could be that there is too much ice to allow a canoe to cross, but at the same time, the ice may not be thick enough to walk upon.  John has lived here for thirty-four years so I imagine that he has seen it all before, and will know exactly what to do.

It's been another wonderful week here in wonderland, so I think I'll end this post with a selection of photos that I took in recent days.  Here they are.

MY WATER SOURCE

 

MY "HAPPY" HEAT SOURCE
 

 

CLASSIC HOMEMADE CHAIR
 

TWO MOOSE JUST ACROSS THE CREEK FROM THE CABIN

BIGFOOT???

THIS MORNING'S SUNRISE

ICE ON THE KLONDIKE THIS MORNING

Time now to take the boneheads out for their second walk of the day.  It's a balmy minus 17C, so we may as well take advantage of this heat wave.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Fix one glitch and another appears.  As mentioned before, I solved the glitch on the new blogger platform, but now I have a new problem.  The portable device (Kindle Fire) that I usually write my blog on, won't allow me to log in.  WTF???  It's been working fine for years, and now it doesn't.  I guess I will have to do some more learning.  The reason I could write this post is because I am using the house computer here at the cabin, however by next week, I probably won't be here.  If there isn't a post on Oct. 28th, it will be due to technical problems with the Kindle.

FULL DISCLOSURE

POST # 426

 

MAIZIE (LEFT), OZ (TOP) & DASH (RIGHT)

 O.K.  Full disclosure about being alone here,  which I wrote about last week.  It is true that I am the only human animal on this property, however I am not the ONLY animal.

I have these three wonderful boneheads to keep me company each and every day.  They are very low maintenance, so my duties are light.

Oz is the oldest, and he's the boss.  Dash is the lead "squirreler", and she was also the first one to come over and hang out with me at the other cabin, soon after I arrived.  And Maizie, well she just seems to be happy to go along with whatever the other two are up to at any given moment.  They are all unique, and they are all a joy to be around each and every day.

A typical day for the four of us usually begins around 8a.m., although I'm quite sure that they would be happy to sleep in even later than that.  Once they're fed, it's time to head outdoors, so that they can relieve themselves, and at the same time, sniff around for any new squirrels.  If there is such a place as dog heaven, this must be the place.

While they're outside, I get coffee going, and then join them outside for a stroll around the property.  The temperature has now dropped, and we were walking around in the snow this morning.  With the cooler temperature, Oz doesn't like to be out there too long, so I return to the cabin with him and let the other two head off on their morning squirrel hunt.  Of course, they are never successful, in spite of all of their barking.  The chosen squirrel sits up in the tree, looking down in amusement at the critters below.

There always seems to be some little project outside to keep me entertained for a while, even if it is only the daily task of splitting more wood for the stove.  It's something that I really enjoy doing, so I don't consider it work.

When the sun is shining, I make the journey to the solar panel, and rotate it in order to get the maximum charge for the batteries which supply my power.  When it's not shining, then I fire up the generator to accomplish the same task.  Lately, it's been more generator than solar panel. And soon I will lose additional solar energy, even on sunny days because there is a hill immediately south of the property that will block the sun from even reaching the solar panel.  Instant power whenever we want it, is a luxury that most take for granted in our modern world.  Out here, I am very frugal with the amount of power that I use.

The days are just flying by, and maybe it's because I have so much fun with the boneheads, or maybe it's because I am at 64+ degrees North latitude, and the days are getting rather short at this time of year.  All the more reason to appreciate each day as it presents itself.

The evening arrives, and it's doggie dinner time, and then human dinner time.  The poor things are tuckered out from all of the squirrel chasing, so it's time to relax. Their day is done.

Oz and Dash will remain camped out on the couch, but Maizie will soon find it too hot in the house, and she will retire to the deck outside.  With the boneheads settled for the evening, the human can now relax, do some reading, check the fire one last time, and then head upstairs to bed.  

Another day spent.  Another day enjoyed.  Another precious day.

Oz, being the boss, gets the final say for today.

SNORING OZ
 

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: I fixed the glitch with the new version of blogger, so everything is back to normal.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALONE

POST # 425

JOHN AND KIM DEPART When contemplating the title for today's post, the most appropriate word to describe my current situation is the word, alone. Many years ago, back in the mid-nineties I read a book with this exact title. The author, Richard Byrd wrote this book which described his adventure of living alone in a shelter carved out of the ice, high on the Antarctic plateau. My purpose for reading it and many other Antarctic related books at the time, was in preparation for my proposed expedition to a place called Cape Adare, located on the Antarctic coast, due South of New Zealand. Cape Adare was the first place that humans stayed over winter on the continent, back in 1898. My plan was to go there in 1998, and spend an entire year there alone. Unfortunately the expedition had to be cancelled, and I have to admit that it took quite a number of years to get over that. Fast forward to the year 2020, and I finally get my opportunity to be alone, not for a year, but for about three weeks. Because I am separated from "civilization" due to the fact that I would need to make two separate crossings of the Klondike river to get to the highway, I decided soon after my arrival that once my friends had departed, I would stay put. John and Kim left on Saturday, October 3rd and it didn't take very long for me to settle into a comfortable routine. I credit this to the fact that I lived in my little cabin I named "Snug" about a ten minute drive along the highway from here, heading towards Dawson back in the early 2000's. Without that "bush" experience, I doubt that I would feel as comfortable as I do right now. And what's not to like? My top three criteria for a great house/pet sit are: 1- Peace and quiet 2- Rural location 3- One or more dogs This place gets three gold stars. My guess is that my time here will go by way too fast, so I am trying my best to appreciate my good fortune. grateful for every breath, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer PS: For whatever reason, this updated version of blogger doesn't compose the text into paragraphs, as I had written it. Perhaps it's a glitch in the program or more likely the fact that I am somewhat of a techno-luddite. I'll continue to work at it, and see if I can improve things for future posts. PPS: A quote from Richard Byrd: “It occurred to me then that half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.”

WORKING HARD

POST # 424

Bucking wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, making kindling, weeding, cutting grass, picking apples, hauling water, preparing trees for winter, and probably a few other things that I've already forgotten, is what has kept me busy this past week. By the end of each day I am knackered as the Aussies would say. It has been exhausting at times, but I'm glad that I have been able to help my friends get all of their chores completed, so that they can soon depart on their vacation.

As can been seen from the above photo, they have an extensive property, and this is only a small portion of the forty acres. Lots of land, and lots of work. I am amazed at just how hard John and Kim work, each and every day. They certainly have earned a holiday, in my opinion. By the time that I return to my cabin for the evening, I'm pretty tuckered out, but I feel satisfied with my effort.

grateful for every breath, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer

BACK TO THE YUKON

POST # 423

MY CURRENT ABODE With limited Wi-Fi, coupled with the fact that Blogger, the platform I have been using to write on since 2011, has "upgraded" so that I have to re-learn it, I will be amazed and delighted if this post makes it to print. With all of that said, let's get started. After my extended stay in Vancouver, I boarded an Air North plane, and flew to Whitehorse, arriving back on Yukon territory on September 15th. I was greeted by my former brother-in-law, Pat, and we had a very pleasant visit over beer and a pizza. The time went by too fast, and soon I was bedded down for the night. Up early the next day, and back to the airport for my flight to Dawson. I met friends, Jannice and Myrna prior to boarding, and soon we were on our way. The flight to Dawson is about an hour, and on our final approach we flew over Bear Creek, and I recognized a few houses. The plane touched down around 9:30am. John was there to meet me, but prior to going back to his property, we drove to town, to do some shopping. I decided to go into the office at my former place of employment, The Dawson City General Store. That was a surprise for my former boss Mark, his son Kyler, and Bob the butcher. We had a pleasant visit and planned to catch up before I leave the Yukon. John and I departed for his property which is located across the Klondike river from Rock Creek. Rock Creek is about a half hour drive from Dawson, followed by two separate canoe voyages across the swiftly moving Klondike river. The first trip is to an island mid-stream, followed by the final float to the property. With John in command, I felt totally at ease. I'm not sure how confident I would be doing the journey on my own, however, that may be necessary at some point. Paddling a canoe in a river is way different to sailing a boat on the ocean, so my previous experience in that regard is of little help. We arrived at the property, to be greeted by John's partner, Kim accompanied by their three dogs, Oz, Dash and Maizie. At present, I am living in a separate cabin from the main house, and I would expect to be here until they go on their vacation. Then it's into the big house with the three boneheads, mentioned above. I feel totally comfortable in this cabin which is large compared to what "Snug" was. It has a great woodstove, and is only a short 46-step walking distance to the outdoor toilet. Who could ask for more? There has been plenty of work to do outside right now, so I have been helping out, however I have to admit that this ageing body isn't used to it. Still it is good for the soul. On Saturday, we went to town to set up on Front street at the farmer's market. It wasn't long before I was visiting with many old friends, and I had a wonderful time. Having worked at the General Store for so many years, I got to know most of the locals. So with the exception of the black flies that have been making a feast out of this non-local, It has been a memorable time so far. grateful for every breath, Paul The Thoughtful Wanderer

END OF QUARANTINE, SMOKE, AND DAWSON HERE I COME

 POST # 422

My 14-day mandatory quarantine ended four days ago, so I am now officially free to go about my business.  Because I don't own a cell phone, I had to provide an email address when I arrived at the airport in order for the "authorities" to be able to check up on me on day four, day eight, and day eleven in order to confirm that I was staying where I said I would be.  So what happened on those three days?  Crickets!!!  I never received any emails, which leads me to conclude that I and any other arriving traveller could just exit the airport and be on their merry old way.  So much for mandatory quarantine.

Now that I am free to move around as I please, thick smoke from wildfires across the border has enveloped Vancouver, so moving around isn't as enjoyable as it could be.  However, I still like to do my daily walk in spite of the haze. I'm fact, a couple of days ago, I took the Seabus across to the North shore.  I was curious to see what the Vancouver skyline looked like from that point of view.  Here it is:

And this is what it looks like on video:

I also spent time at my favourite beach in the West End.  More smoke, and the resident crows to keep me entertained.

Today is the third consecutive day with thick smoke. Apparently, at some point during this period, Vancouver had the worst air quality in the world.  Whether that is true or not is debatable.  All I know is that it is very bad, but at least I won't have to put up with it for much longer.  Why is that?  Because tomorrow afternoon I will be flying back to the Yukon.  Friends in Dawson City need me to housesit for them for a little while.  I arrive in Whitehorse tomorrow evening, stay over at a local hotel, and fly on to Dawson the next morning.

These friends live out in the bush, so I am not exactly sure what kind of internet connection will be available, but rest assured, as long as I can connect, there will be a blog post next Monday.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer